last week frank and i did a lot of birthday celebrating (as our birthdays are 3 days apart), so like any good pair we celebrated with dinners out and a good amount of birthday sweets. needless to say, my body was completely whacked out in reaction to my consumption of bits of gluten here and there, and sugary treats. frank and i both came to a quick conclusion that we needed to get back to our old routine of cooking at home, and not eating desserts almost every night. since the celebrations have ceased i have been consuming a fair amount of ginger to help calm and balance this body of mine.

with that in mind, i wanted to make a healthful and soothing dinner, and this rice bowl was just the thing to help do that. the rice was cooked with ginger to infuse some of that anti-inflammatory goodness, and loaded with raw veggies as to not let any of those good nutrients escape. the tahini sriracha was inspired by the flavors in this blog post, and by my friend who had us over the night and made a delicious and simple bok choy salad with toasted almonds and sesame oil dressing - yummo! i'm a big fan of veggie rice bowls, and this is similar to one i made awhile back, but here i used veggies that were a cinch to slice thin, making them easier to chew and digest. and i think by now you've learned that i love, love, love tahini! and spicy sriracha...with the tahini...mind. blown. if you're not so into the spicy factor, don't use the sriracha, the tahini will still be delicious.

here is to being mindful of what we put in our bodies - to healthful meals, and veggie-love!

raw veggie + ginger rice bowl w/ sriracha tahini

| serves 4 |

ingredients

for the rice bowl

1 cup black forbidden rice

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

1 bunch bok choy, chopped (about 2 cups)

4 large carrots, cut into matchsticks

1 large zucchini or 2 small zucchinis (i used 1 small zucchini and 1 small summer squash), ribboned, cut into matchsticks, or julienned with a peeler

1 bunch scallions (about 6), sliced thin

1 ripe avocado, sliced

2 tablespoons thai basil, chopped small

1/3 cup raw almonds, toasted and roughly chopped

for the sriracha tahini

| makes about 2/3 cup |

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon tahini paste

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (or more depending on how spicy you want it)

water to thin consistency

instructions

combine rice with ginger in a medium sized saucepan, cover with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. once water boils, stir once, cover and turn down heat to low. cook for 25-30 minutes. set aside

while rice is cooking make the sriracha tahini. in a medium sized bowl, combine tahini, sesame oil, rice vinegar and sriracha. one teaspoon at a time, thin sauce to desired consistency. set aside

in a large bowl, combine ginger-rice with the bok choy, carrots, zucchini, and scallions. serve and top with sliced avocado, basil, almonds and scallions